Subscribe to LOCALarts via Email

PPT’s Capote Consortium is TRU-ly Amazing

“TRU”, starring Eddie Korbich, written by Jay Presson Allen, and directed by the esteemed artistic director of the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Ted Pappas, has taken flight on the Public’s stage.

The one-man-show transports theater-goers into Truman Capote’s apartment, circa 1975. Capote, an accomplished writer since the age of 11, is best known for his novel, “In Cold Blood”, which details the real-life events of a Kansas family who was murdered in 1959, and the novella, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, which birthed his most famous character, socialite and professional gold digger, Holly Golightly.

Capote, the embodiment of effervescence, was verbose and riddled with delusions of grandeur. His over-the-top lifestyle, coupled with his mad literary genius makes for the perfect on-stage narrative.

Korbich gave a delicious character study of Capote or “TRU” as he is nicknamed, but for me, the silent star of the show was the apartment. From Tru’s collection of paper weights and busts to his “couch of many colors,” James Noone (Scenic Designer) gives the audience a peek inside Capote’s inner workings.

Capote, the quintessential social butterfly, brags about his famous friends Ava Gardner, Princess Margaret and Andy Warhol, all the while boozing and tap dancing around his eclectic flat.

What I can say is that a sad, dark, “feeling of dread” often overpowers the stage, like a draft through a New York Apartment.

TRU gives a haunting and illuminating view into Capote’s kaleidoscopic world, how he survived writing “Answered Prayers” and almost lost himself in the process. “TRU”runs through May 22nd. For more information, visit The Public online.